By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: POLL RESULTS: What is the single greatest health benefit afforded by Digital Health solutions?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > POLL RESULTS: What is the single greatest health benefit afforded by Digital Health solutions?
eHealthMedical InnovationsMobile HealthSocial MediaTechnology

POLL RESULTS: What is the single greatest health benefit afforded by Digital Health solutions?

Paul Sonnier
Last updated: July 19, 2012 9:10 am
Paul Sonnier
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

I’ve previously discussed the health revolution that’s been initiated by the super-convergence of several key macro digital technologies and technology-based trends with healthcare and consumers.

I’ve previously discussed the health revolution that’s been initiated by the super-convergence of several key macro digital technologies and technology-based trends with healthcare and consumers. But many in the life sciences and healthcare industries have asked: “What are the ultimate health benefits?” It’s a great question since, beyond the hype and flurry of investments (tripling this year vs. the same period in 2011), we are still waiting to see large scale measurable health-related outcomes that are attributable wholly or in part to the combined application of digital health solutions.

In order to gauge the sentiment of professionals working at the forefront of digital health innovation I polled the members of my Digital Health group on LinkedIn: “What is the biggest human health benefit from using digital health?”

  • Disease management – 50%
  • Disease prevention – 30%
  • Disease diagnosis – 11%
  • Disease prediction (especially genomics) – 7%
  • Reduced radiation exposure (imaging) – 3%

According to the poll (which received more than 325 responses as of July 16), half of the total respondents felt that the most significant, near-term benefit will come from improved disease management. For long-term benefits, approximately one third of respondents indicated that disease prevention was the greatest opportunity.

More Read

5 Hospitals Using Pinterest to Boost their Brand
Will Wireless Capusle Endoscopy Replace Colonoscopy?
List of 20 Excellent Social Media Networking Resources for HealthCare
Microsoft Tags (Barcodes) Used with LifeSaver Mobile Application-Paramedics Scan a Printed Card to Access Your Records
Beyond the Buzz: 3 Free Tools to Help You Measure Your Twitter Influence

In considering the supporting evidence that already exists for the survey results, we’re already seeing some improvements in disease management from the use of digital health tools such as access to caregivers and laboratory results via online resources to delivering cardiac, rheumatology, and infectious disease care (and even psychiatric consultation) to patients in remote areas, as noted in previous posts by our guest blogger Dr. Dale Alverson. Moreover, many diabetics use glucometers and even pedometers to better monitor and manage their diabetes.

While it came in second, disease prevention could ultimately provide the largest benefit arising from use of digital health tools. After all, if we don’t become patients because we’ve used information to prevent disease, or exchanged testing information that presented a warning sign to future disease, digital health can stave off healthcare’s greatest costs: disease care. In addition, using solutions like 23andME and Pathway Genomics for personal genomics-based probabilistic disease prediction is a powerful, but mostly overlooked opportunity for digital health to make a significant difference in improving our health. If more consumers catch on to using these tools, and integrate them with additional digital health devices and services, they could further catalyze the digital health revolution.

Personally, I think both disease management and prevention will be equally important as more information becomes available through digital means. While basic health management and improvement augmented by digital tools and information is probably the biggest aspect of digital health disease prevention, in one amazing dual-opportunity, Dr. Eric Topol, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care, recently described a scenario where we might one day intervene to prevent heart attacks just days before they occur: ”In the long term… we could put it in a nanosensor that is embedded into a tiny vein in high risk people who are most vulnerable to having a heart attack, and have that sensor talk to their cell phone, so they get an alert that they might have a heart attack in a few days.”

Going forward, we’ll hopefully see a transition from the short term disease management opportunity to a more robust disease prevention effect, which will bend the healthcare cost curve while greatly increasing the quality of life for consumers.

Given this rapidly evolving convergence of technology with health and medicine, what do you think are the biggest short-term and long-term health benefits afforded by the digital health super-convergence? Are there any that I missed in the “answer” options (one I thought about subsequently is aging in place)? Will use of genomic information by consumers seeking to prevent disease become mainstream? Please join in the conversation by commenting below and by submitting your own vote in the Digital Health group poll.


 

TAGGED:digital healthdigital health benefitsmobile health
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Image
eHealth

How Could Physician Rating Sites Be Better?

May 27, 2013
Image
Medical DevicesTechnology

RSNA 2013: Siemens’ Artis One – An Answer for Life

December 5, 2013

HIT Bloggers to Follow on Twitter

July 14, 2012

Marketing Home Health Care: A Major Opportunity in the United States

November 13, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?